HNLMS Johan Maurits van Nassau

The HNLMS Johan Maurits van Nassau, named after John Maurice of Nassau, was a Dutch sloop that served in the early part of World War II, when it was sunk. She was the sole ship of her class, which was developed from the earlier "Flores" class.

When the war broke out, "Johan Maurits van Nassau" was in the West Indies due to be relieved by the new gunnery training ship "Van Kinsbergen", allowing the "Maurits" to return to the Netherlands. On 10 May 1940, she was stationed as a search and guard vessel at Vlissingen, where she immediately was targeted by German aircraft, of which she shot down one. She remained in the area for a couple of days and was then ordered to bombard the Dutch aerodrome at Waalhaven in Rotterdam, which had been occupied by German paratroopers. She arrived in Hoek van Holland, but after the loss of the HNLMS "Van Galen" during her attempt to do the same, the operation (of which the HNLMS "Flores" was also part) was cancelled.

"Maurits" was ordered to Den Helder on May 12 1940, to silence a German battery near the Afsluitdijk, and on 14 May, she bombarded the German battery (consisting of 88 millimetre guns of the 1st Cavalry Division) at a range of over 18 kilometres and silenced them. Her advanced fire control system enabled great accuracy. Despite fierce retaliation by German aircraft, she remained undamaged, to the great surprise of all.

The war in the Netherlands was, however, coming to an end, and the independent role of the Dutch Navy was over. There was a general evacuation of personnel and ships, and the "Johan Maurits van Nassau" left Den Helder on May 14 with the minelayers "Jan van Brakel", "Douwe Aukes" and "Nautilus" and the torpedoboats "G 13" and "G 15". In the afternoon, about 10 miles west of Callantsoog, they were attacked by German planes. The "Maurits", the largest vessel in the convoy, was the main target, and she received two or three hits, one of which caused a fire near an ammunition stack. The crew were ordered to abandon ship: eight crewmen were killed. Later, most surviving crewmembers were transported back to Den Helder by the rescue ship "Dorus Rijkers", but some continued to England aboard the remaining ships.

The wreck lies in 20 meters of water in position 52.50.13N, 04.33.56E.

External links

* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2873.html U-boat.net]